TORN: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novel)

by Love,Michelle

  I sit up and pull her to sit up with me. The way the moonlight catches the golden strands in her dark hair is beautiful and I hope our daughters all have her hair. I run my hand through it and pull a chunk up to smell it.

  The coconut and brown sugar shampoo the bungalow came with smells amazing in her hair. When I look into her eyes, I can see the brilliant blue water reflecting in them, mixing with the green of her eyes. It’s magical.

  “Marriage is permanent in my mind too. I want that with you. I want security, permanence. I want it all, Britt. I don’t want the insecurity of knowing you could decide to walk away at any moment and that I would be powerless to stop you.”

  “So, you want power over me? Is that what you’re saying?” She bites her bottom lip when she’s done talking and I see the nervousness boiling inside her.

  Taking her by the shoulders, I try to ease her nerves. “I don’t want power over you. Maybe the way I’m saying things is all wrong. Look, here’s the bottom line. I want a life with you. Not with anyone else. I’ve had plenty of other women and none compare to you. None hold my attention the way you do. None fit me the way you do. None make me crazier and happier than you do. I want you and I want the security of marriage to keep our asses in line.”

  “You know, you and I both have a lot of money now. It would be smart to draw up a prenup. If one of us was to have an affair and there was no prenup the other could end up with half or more of their money.” She searches my eyes for what I know is fear.

  I laugh. “I’m not going to cheat and I’ll kill anyone who thinks they’re going to have sex with you or attempt to take you away from me, so we’re safe as far as that’s concerned.”

  Moving around to sit in an Indian position, wearing only the tiny, red, two-piece bathing suit she put on when we first got here, I find it hard not to center my attention on her open center. But I try to keep looking at her face.

  “Along with a very fast marriage would be a baby as soon as possible too, huh?”

  I move my hands up her arms, loving how her skin feels so soft and cool. “I want you to have my babies, Brittany. I want to see your belly all round with my baby inside of you. I want to hold your hand when you bring him or her into this world and I want to see your face when you lay your eyes on what our love made for the very first time.”

  One tear rolls down her cheek. I take my thumb and wipe it away. “You make it sound beautiful, Jason.”

  “It is,” I kiss her cheek. “It’s the number one thing I see when I look at you and think of life with you. I know you’ll be an amazing wife and mother and I want to get to that already. I don’t want to introduce you as my girlfriend, I want everyone to know you are mine. My wife.”

  The way she looks at me has me thinking she has this internal war going on. Her heart against her brain. I know I hurt her when we were young and I wish I could go back in time and change it all.

  Her lips quirk up into a half smile. “That would be something, wouldn’t it?” She looks up then back at me. Maybe offering up a prayer. “I’ll let you know at the end of the week, what my decision is.”

  I almost tell her, no, that it’s not all up to her. But something inside of me tells me to shut the hell up or I’ll really piss her off. I can’t treat her the way I did when we were young.

  I kind of bossed her around a lot. I didn’t realize it until I really looked back at us back then. I have to allow her to be the grown woman she’s become.

  As hard as it is, I have to let her make her own decision about her part in this. I’m so used to forcing things with her. Forcing her to forgive me for my indiscretions. Forcing her to let me kiss her and make everything better between us.

  I can’t force her to marry me. That would be wrong on so many levels.

  So I sit and look back at her and nod. “Okay. That’s better than nothing, I suppose. And to make this a bit more official.” I move around and get on both knees and take her left hand in mine. “Brittany Caldwell, will you marry me?” I hold up my hand. “Don’t answer me right now.” I wink at her. “Take a few days to think about it.”

  She laughs and pushes at my shoulders. “You’re goofy now, Jason.” She looks out over the water. “Wanna get in?”

  I nod and we get up and take the stairs into the warm water. She moves into my arms as we go into the deeper water. The underwater lights keep things lit up and tiny fish move around, looking for something to eat.

  “How about a snorkeling trip tomorrow?” I ask her.

  Her dark brows raise and she looks excited. “I think that would be so cool. Tell me how in the world we could top this trip for a honeymoon, Jason.”

  Good, she’s thinking about that!

  “Hmm, how about something totally opposite, like somewhere snowy and secluded, like a mountain cabin in say Switzerland?” I find her eyes lighting up.

  “That does sound romantic.” She kisses me. “When did you get so romantic?”

  “The day you came back into my life.” I kiss her again, with a soft kiss.

  She wraps her body around me and holds me tight to her. I can feel her letting me in. A little deeper I get into her heart all the time.

  It would be nice to have the power to erase certain memories. The one where she caught me in my truck with that slut would be the first to go!

  As I kiss her, my mind loops around why I’ve done what I’ve done with my life. I feel as if I’ve wasted a lot of years on bagging various women. Duping them into thinking what we had was real.

  What purpose did that even serve?

  When I’m with Brittany, all of the feelings are real. They always have been. I was like an actor in some play with all the rest of the women. Going through the motions without any real connection.

  And now I wonder how the truth is going to affect them all. Will finding out I’m married to someone do something awful to them? Will it break something in them like I broke something in Brittany?

  Britt pulls her mouth away and looks at me with concern. “What’s wrong?”

  “You could sense that, Baby?” I ask as I had no idea I was doing a thing in the world to show my inner-conflict as I kissed her.

  “Yes.” She runs her hands over my shoulders and wraps her legs around my waist as we float in the water. “So tell me what has you feeling tense.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it right now. This is not the time. I don’t know why it even went through my head.” I move to kiss her again.

  She leans back and shakes her head. “No, talk to me.”

  With a sigh, I say, “I’m feeling bad for how I’ve been living and the hurt I’m about to cause a bunch of women.”

  Her body goes tense. “You can keep on living that life if you want, Jason. Only I won’t be a part of that life.”

  “I’m not even thinking that way. You’re reading it all wrong. I’m only feeling bad that I did things that are going to cause other people pain and I hope none if it is as extensive as the pain I caused you,” I pull her to me and try to kiss her again.

  She shakes me off again. “Do they all think you love them?”

  “I told them the words but truth be told, more than one of them has accused me of not loving them. When those kinds of things get brought up, though, I suddenly have to leave town.” I look at her to see if there is any kind of compassion in her eyes and only see anger building.

  “You’ve told them all that you love them? So those words flow out of your mouth very easily then. How am I to believe you mean them with me?”

  My damn mouth seems to get me into more fucking arguments!

  Chapter 9

  BRITTANY

  The walls start coming back up fast as I look at Jason and realize he’s become very adept at making women think he loves them. “How many women have you told that you wanted them to have your babies, Jason?” I try to get away from him but he holds me tight.

  “Don’t, Britt!” He looks at me with hurt in his eyes, but I’m sure he’s learned h
ow to use that look to end many an argument.

  “How many?” I ask again as I stop squirming and look very hard into his eyes.

  I wish I had a lie detector for this man!

  “None. Not anyone. Crap, Baby. I didn’t even want kids or to settle down until I saw your face again. That’s the truth. Now can you stop jumping to terrible conclusions? It’s kind of exhausting.”

  “Exhausting?” Oh, now I’m really mad. “Let me go.”

  He eases his grip on me but doesn’t let me go until I pull my leg back like I’m about to give him a knee to the crotch. Then he lets me go and I turn away from him and start making my way back to the stairs to go inside.

  He can sleep outside on the damn porch for all I care. But knowing Jason, he’ll find some woman on vacation here and sleep in her comfy bed for the night.

  “Britt, stop!” he shouts at me. “Really, stop! Look ahead of you!”

  A man and woman walk out onto their deck not too far from me and they point to a place ahead of me. The woman says in a very calm voice, “You should slowly come this way.”

  Then I see it. A large fin in the water and it’s coming toward me. I’m frozen as I watch it coming at me. Not very fast but straight at me.

  Hands move over my waist and I’m hoisted up and thrown over a shoulder. A broad shoulder, Jason’s shoulder. My body is out of the water entirely as he moves toward the stairs to the other couple’s bungalow.

  The fin is still coming right at us and then I shriek as another fin pops up next to it, “Hurry! There’s another one!”

  “I think they’re nurse sharks,” the lady says.

  I don’t care what kind they are. They have teeth. Lots of teeth and they seem to be interested in us.

  Just as Jason climbs up on the first step, I see the faces of the sharks. He gets up three more and I see them swim right where we just got out of the water at the bottom of the stairs.

  He gets to the top and puts me down and wraps his arms around my shaking body. “Are you okay, Honey?” he asks me.

  I nod but I’m kind of not okay. I’m kind of shaken up. And I’m kind of really glad he’s here, holding me tight and I feel safe.

  The woman says, “I don’t think they meant to hurt you. Just curious creatures, really.”

  Jason laughs a little. He lets me go and turns me around so I can see the sharks from up a higher and much safer distance. I watch them swimming around the lagoon and I guess they do seem curious.

  “How big would you say they are?” I ask.

  The lady rattles off, “The male is about five feet and the female next to him is about four. Nothing huge in shark terms.”

  “I think they look about ten feet long,” I say and wrap my arms back around Jason. “Let’s go inside.”

  We start to walk away and the woman says, “Night time is when they feed. It’s not a good idea to be in the water after dark.”

  Jason looks back at her. “Yeah, we won’t be making that mistake again. Good night.”

  The other couple goes back inside as we walk over to our bungalow and go inside. His fingers move quickly and the strings on my top and bottoms are undone and the skimpy material falls away from my body.

  I’m spun around in his arms as he moves us back to the bed. “I need you.”

  With one swift push, I’m on my back and his swimming trunks hit the floor. His face is pure, unadulterated want for me. It comes back to my mind that I was mad at him only minutes ago and shouldn’t be having sex with him right now.

  But he’s kind of hot and sexy as hell and he said he needs me so I think I’ll let that little argument go. I can’t recall what it was about, anyway.

  His eyes are glued to me as he pounces on me. His arms go behind my knees as he pulls them up then presses his already erect cock into me. It goes deep and stretches me out quickly.

  It burns a little in the best way. “Jason!”

  “Brittany, I love you. I love only you. I want only you.” He’s intense and seems so sincere.

  Again, I feel a little like I’m being brainwashed. He’s making me feel so damn good and saying the right things. The argument has been avoided. All things are going his way.

  I’m not sure how he accomplishes getting his way all the time. I guess he’s very practiced at it.

  His mouth crashes down on mine and it takes my breath away as he thrusts hard and kisses me hard too. My body goes into animal mode with him and I buck under him to make our bodies collide harder.

  Grunts and other animal-like noises fill the little bedroom. Cool air drifts in through the open windows and the sound of water gently lapping at the legs of the pier combine with the sounds we’re making.

  I think the sounds, smells, and emotions will reside in my brain forever. Every time with Jason is memorable. Through the three years we were together we made love countless times. All have parts in my memory bank.

  Maybe what we have is real. Maybe I’m being too hard on the guy. Maybe I need to lighten the fuck up.

  His mouth leaves mine as he pounds into me. “I’m about to fill you up with my seed.”

  His words make me want to laugh but his demeanor makes me hot as hell for him. I’m not sure what to do. It seems this guy is determined to make a baby with me.

  Fuck it! I’m tired of resisting. “Do it! Let’s have a baby!”

  The sound he makes is one of joy mixed with some kind of an animal and the next thing I know he’s going stiff inside me and his cock jerks. The action makes my body start climaxing and I guess this is what it feels like to give it all up.

  Light seems to come from him as I look at him. My head is kind of loopy like I’m a little drunk. I assume because I’m shutting my brain down.

  No more thinking. It’s done. I can’t take any of it back.

  Then it hits me. He can’t take anything he’s done back either. And I find myself being a damn hypocrite again.

  I really need to stop doing crap like that!

  Running my hands all over his cheeks, I pull him to me and pepper little kisses all over his face. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, Baby. I’m a bitch. A complete bitch. Help me stop being this untrusting person I’ve become. Help me, Baby.”

  Laying his body on top of mine, he smashes me into the soft bed. “No need to apologize, Sweetcakes. I understand. But the past needs to stay where it is. From here on out, we need to look forward, never back.”

  I nod and nuzzle his neck. “I love you, Jason,”

  “I love you,” he says then kisses the top of my head.

  He rolls over keeping me in his arms and on top of him, still connected. I slip off to one side and he groans as I end the connection. “You can’t stay in there forever,” I tease him.

  “Please,” he says with a chuckle. His arm tightens as he hugs me. “Brittany, if we can get past this hump, we can get past anything, girl.”

  Slow circles I trace over his defined pecs. “We’re going to get over this. We have to. And just so you know, I’ve changed a lot. By that, I mean that from this point forward I’m not going to be that girl who cried and ran away when I caught you fucking around. I’m going to be the woman who kicks ass and takes names. Just so you know.”

  He chuckles again. “Then we’re on the same page. I’m with you on that. I’ll fight the world for you, Baby. I sure as fuck hope you don’t make me, but I will if I have to.”

  “Is this really healthy?” I ask him as I look up at him.

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. I just know what I feel for you is fierce. It has a power of its own. It took me over completely by surprise. It runs through my veins and seems to have its own agenda. And I don’t think I could stop it if I tried. Which I’m not going to do.”

  “That’s how I feel too. I feel like some other power has taken me over. I keep wanting to say it’s you who's taking me over, but the truth is it’s so much stronger than a mere person.”

  I let out a sigh then we both say, “It’s magic!”

  We
both laugh and then I let that final piece of, what if, go.

  It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t last. I need to enjoy this for what it is, anyway. Amazing, awesome, love. Pure love.

  What if he cheats on me? What if he’s only telling me what I want to hear? What if he leaves me? What if he knocks me up and leaves me alone to take care of a kid? What if something happens to him?

  I let all of those go out of my mind for good. The truth is anything could happen. God forbid, Jason was taken from me tomorrow by a freak accident. Or I was taken from him, say a shark eats me up. If that happened we’d know we had love in our lives and it wasn’t a mistake.

  None of this is a mistake. If a baby comes out of it and nothing else, then that’s great too.

  No more what if’s!

  Jason gives my shoulders a squeeze, “What if your parents can’t accept me?”

  I roll my eyes. It seems Jason has a lot of what if’s too. Crap!

  “They will.” I kiss his chest. “I’ll make them be nice to you. Don’t even let that worry you.”

  “I don’t want you to have to make them. I want to win them over on my own. Don’t make them accept me. Promise me you’ll let me do it,” he says.

  “Fine. But don’t expect them to welcome you with open arms or smiles on their faces. There will only be frowns and my father might throw a punch at you. He’s old and you’ll have to let the punch connect so he won’t feel worthless. Or I can just tell them I’m with you and they need to get over themselves.” I pat his chest and he sighs.

  With a deep breath, he says, “Okay, you let them know we’re together and there’s nothing they can do to stop us and then I’ll make them love me. They used to like me, I think. Did they like me, Britt? Or was that all in my mind?”

  “Are you kidding? Mom loved you. I think she took what you did harder than I did. I hid most of the cheating from them both. The last one couldn’t be hidden, though. Sorry,” I say as I look up at him. “And Dad liked you a lot too. You can do it. You can get back into their good graces. I have faith in you.”